How to Write an Argumentative Essay

If you still think you can’t write an argumentative essay, think again. Remember the last time you convinced your roommate to get the pizza topping you like. Or that time you ranted on TikTok about the unfairness of rising grocery prices. Every time you express your opinion and try to convince others to agree with you, you’re developing an argument. Put it on paper, and you’ll get an argumentative essay.

Your school assignments aren’t that different. All you need is to fit your reasoning into a basic argumentative essay outline, use appropriate language, and, most importantly, develop a strong thesis. We’re here to show you how.

Argumentative Essay Definition

What is an argumentative essay? It’s a common school assignment where you formulate and defend a position on a specific issue.

Argumentative writing is one of the four genres, and it’s different from expository, narrative, and reflective pieces. Like expository writing, it usually requires research, and like reflective writing, it will have you expressing an opinion. Still, you should stay objective and avoid flowery phrasing, like you’d use in short stories.

An argumentative essay isn’t exclusive to PoliSci. It’s a common assignment across the Humanities. You may even need to whip up an argumentative piece for a STEM class or interdisciplinary course.

3 Types of Argumentative Essays

The goal of an argumentative essay is to convince the reader to take your side. But you can take different routes to get there. So, let’s make sense of the three argument types.

1 Classic Argument

Also known as the Aristotelian argument, it’s the type you’re most used to. This type of an argumentative essay covers 5 critical components:

1. Introduction and context of the main issue
2. Claim or thesis explaining your position
3. Evidence to support your stance
4. Counterargument addressing the opposing claims
5. Conclusion (often with a call to action)

The classic argumentative essay is the simplest. It can even seem aggressive, since you mostly ignore alternative perspectives and remain laser-focused on presenting your side of the issue. This type of argument is most common in classrooms and is best suited for non-sensitive matters where there’s one obvious position to take.

2 Toulmin Argument

Professors use Toulmin’s method to assess the effectiveness of an argumentative essay, but they may also ask you to use it to frame your argument. In this case, your paper will need:

• Claim – your position on the matter
• Data – evidence from references supporting your claim
• Warrant – connection between the data and the claim
• Backing – additional information to further support the warrant and data
• Rebuttal – alternative perspectives contradicting your reasoning
• Qualifier – language limiting the scope of your claim (i.e., some, few, many)

These elements can appear across different argumentative essay paragraphs. For example, while the claim should always be in the introduction, each of the body paragraphs can hold data, warrant, backing, and qualifier. You can use rebuttals for each of your main points or save them for the final body paragraph.

3 Rogerian Argument

A Rogerian-style argumentative essay is very different from the previous two. Its goal is to bring the two sides together and find common ground instead of overpowering the opposition with your reasoning. Its structure is nearly inverted:

• Present different sides of the issue neutrally
• Discuss the opposing perspective and highlight the points you’re willing to concede
• Describe your position and the points the alternative side could accept
• Lead up to a compromise between the different perspectives

Notice that this type of argumentative essay is highly unusual. Do not use this format unless your professor specifically requests it, since it’s missing some of the major components of the classic or Toulmin argument.

Argumentative Essay Outline Template

The classic argumentative essay outline looks like this:

1. Introduction
1. Opening hook
2. Context or background
3. Thesis statement
2. Body paragraph 1
1. Topic sentence – first point supporting the thesis
2. Reference data, statistics, quotes, and other evidence
3. Connection between the topic sentence and the evidence (warrant)
3. Body paragraph 2
1. Transition phrase or sentence
2. Topic sentence – second point supporting the thesis
3. Reference data, statistics, quotes, and other evidence
4. Connection between the topic sentence and the evidence (warrant)
4. Body paragraph 3
1. Transition phrase or sentence
2. Topic sentence – third point supporting the thesis
3. Reference data, statistics, quotes, and other evidence
4. Connection between the topic sentence and the evidence (warrant)
5. Body paragraph 4
1. Transition phrase or sentence
2. Topic sentence – main counterargument
3. Refutation of the counterargument
4. Evidence supporting the refutation
6. Conclusion
1. Reiterated thesis statement
2. Summary of the main points and counterargument refutation
3. Final thoughts

You can adjust this template to fit your word count. It would work for a Toulmin argument as well, with only a few tweaks. But if you’re writing an argumentative essay in the Rogerian style, this outline will need a major rework. Start with a counterargument and work your way through the commonalities between the opposing positions.

Argumentative Essay Writing Step by Step

There’s no quick and easy answer for how to write an argumentative essay. To make this high-stakes assignment manageable, let’s break it down into a streamlined 5-step process.

Step 1. Research the Issue

Unless it’s an in-class assignment, you’ll need strong evidence to convince the readers to take your side. Look for objective and credible pieces published within the last 5 to 10 years. You’ll want as many different perspectives as you can find. As you go through the sources, sort them into three or more categories (one for each of the major points you want to make).

Get more references than you think you’ll need. With an argumentative essay, you never know which point will take more data to turn around your readers.

Step 2. Develop a Thesis Statement

The three things your argumentative essay thesis needs are:

• Addressing the counterargument: “Although social media helps connect people…”
• Your stance on the issue: “...they are bad for society…”
• Brief outline of the main points: “...because they hinder the development of social skills, propagate negativity, and create informational bubbles.”

Remember, a thesis cannot be a question. It must hold your answer to the question and its brief explanation. Think of it as a one-sentence argumentative essay outline. You can always circle back and tweak the thesis statement, but you need at least a rough draft before you start outlining and writing.

The thesis statement is a critical part of any paper. Mess it up, and forget your chances of getting a good grade.

Step 3. Outline Your Argument

As we’ve discussed, there are three major argumentative essay types. The proper outline will depend on the assignment prompt, so pay attention to the professor’s requirements.

Whichever structure you choose, you’ll need at least three to four major points and supporting evidence from at least two sources for each of them. For a classic or Toulmin argument, open with the strongest point and finish with the second most impactful one. The weaker points can go in the middle of the paper without affecting the overall argument.

Step 4. Fill the Gaps

When you complete the first 3 pre-writing steps, argumentative writing comes down to fleshing out the narrative. Start every paragraph with the main idea, follow it up with reference data, and tie them together with your analysis. Explain how the evidence feeds into your argument, highlight its implications, and tie them back to the thesis statement.

By the way, you don’t have to write an argumentative essay in order. If the opening paragraph stumps you, skip it. Expand your body passages and wrap up the story before circling back to the intro.

Step 5. Edit, Proofread, and Format

Never submit an argumentative essay you’ve just finished. It’s nothing but a first draft and needs a lot of work.

So, what is the last step to creating an argumentative essay, if it’s not writing? It’s editing! After a short break, reread the paper with a critical eye. Look for weak evidence, awkward reasoning, and repetitions. Ruthlessly delete and replace everything less than perfect.

Only when you’re happy with the final version, move on to proofreading. Use a standard spell checker, but augment it with professional tools like Grammarly. Better yet, get a second pair of eyes on your paper. If none of your classmates are willing to help, consider getting a professional to look it over. One of our editors would be happy to help!

Proper formatting is the icing on the cake. A cherry on top. Professors appreciate you following the formatting requirements (especially for citations), so proper formatting is an instant way to get on their good side.

Where to Find a Good Argumentative Essay Example?

If you want to see what an award-winning argumentative essay looks like, check out popular online contests and their winners, like:

• The New York Times Editorial Winners
• John Locke Institute Essay Competition
• The Harvard Crimson Global Essay Competition

There are lots of competitions on various subjects, so if you’re interested in a specific field, you can find even more prize-worthy examples on any topic. And of course, you can use a personal essay writing service to whip up a sample for you to emulate.

7 Tips on Writing an Argumentative Essay

Learning to write an argumentative essay is a never-ending process. There are always ways to improve, polish, and tighten your writing. Here are just a few tricks to help in your efforts:

• Try different hooks until you find the right one. There’s no perfect solution for how to start an argumentative essay. Even if every other paper begins with a statistic, yours could benefit from a rhetorical question or a personal anecdote. 
• Ensure every paragraph feeds into the thesis. If it doesn’t, delete or rewrite it to support your main idea.
• Use at least two pieces of evidence for every point. Less is more when it comes to the number of main points in your argumentative essay outline, but you always want more proof. Adding statistics to personal stories or quotes will strengthen your writing.
• Add more analysis and explanations than you think is necessary. The connection between reference data and your point (“warrant” in Toulmin’s terminology) may be obvious to you, but not to your readers. Even if you exceed the argumentative essay word count limit, you can tighten up your explanations during editing.
• Highlight the relevance of every point. It should pass the “So what?” test. If the answer is unclear to the reader, your reasoning will look weak, and your argument will be forgettable.
• Do not ignore the counterarguments. Weave your refutations into your main points or dedicate a separate paragraph to address them. Turning a blind eye to alternative views will only raise questions.
• Embrace the feedback. If you want your every argumentative essay to improve, pay attention to the professor’s comments and ask for detailed feedback. It’ll help you understand systemic issues and account for them in future assignments.

Conclusion

Can one blog post teach you how to write an argumentative essay? Unlikely. But hopefully, you now know the difference between the classic, Toulmin, and Rogerian arguments, understand the basic outline, and recognize the critical pre- and post-writing steps you cannot miss.

Remember, the only way to write a great argumentative essay is to write it. But if you need a little more help, our argumentative essay writing service is here for you.